FTSE 100 eyes eleventh day of gains

The FTSE 100 headed into its eleventh consecutive day of gains in early
trading in Monday.

By Amy Wilson

9:10AM BST 27 Jul 2009

The benchmark index chalked up its longest winning streak since January 2004 on Friday, after rising for ten straight days.

FTSE 100

In early trading on Monday, the index of blue-chip shares was up 16 points, or 0.4pc, remaining just below the 4,600 mark.

Shares in Britain are emulating gains around the world, with the Dow Jones index in the US climbing above 9,000 points for the first time since January last week, and the Nikkei 225 Stock Average recording its best run of gains since 1988.

US companies have reported better-than-expected earnings in recent weeks, surprising investors and triggering more buying. feet.

Some Wall Street banks have also reported bumper profits, boosting confidence in the financial sector which was behind much of last year's market decline.

Leading the gains on the FTSE were Financial Times publisher Pearson, which was up 7.6pc to 652p after reporting a first-half profit, and mining companiesLonmin, up 4.6pc to 1,300p and Antofagasto up 3.9pc.

Rexam, the world's biggest maker of drinks cans, dropped 10pc after confirming it plans to make a rights issue to protect its credit rating, which could raise up to £350m.